Thailand moves toward the legalisation of casinos
The House of Representatives has approved a report proposing the legalisation of casinos in the country.
Thailand.- The project to legalize casinos in Thailand went one step further after a full report prepared by a House committee was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday (January 11).
A total of 310 representatives voted in favour of the report while only nine voted against it after discussing it at the assembly for nearly three hours.
The country’s experts will now conduct further research, carefully examining the potential advantages and disadvantages of legalizing the casino gambling industry in the country.
Pakornwut Udompipatsakul of the Move Forward Party and a member of the committee that compiled the report told the Bangkok Post that the next government may decide whether casinos should be allowed or not.
Udompipatsakul noted that legalization could take years, with public hearings and referendums needing to be organized before legalization and casino construction can proceed.
The committee proposed opening casinos to Thais and foreigners, but Thais must be at least 21 years old and have at least 500,000 baht in their bank accounts within the past six months. They must pay an entry fee and money won when gambling in casinos will be subject to tax.
The House Committee also suggested Bangkok, the Eastern Economic Corridor, 22 tourist provinces and border provinces with immigration checkpoints as potential sites for casinos.
The committee also proposes eight types of online gambling. They include online casinos, spread betting, online sports gambling, and event betting, such as on-election results, E-sports betting, online bingo and foreign lottery betting.
